


tying you to me

by caitlesshea



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Immortal Husbands, M/M, andy is immortal, booker is back with the team, booker is smitten, copley's replacement, joe will do anything for nicky, nicky thinks he's seeing a ghost, thirty years post canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 08:01:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25620064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caitlesshea/pseuds/caitlesshea
Summary: Copley brings his new replacement to meet the team. Nicky thinks he's seeing a ghost.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Comments: 20
Kudos: 272





	tying you to me

**Author's Note:**

> Female-overlord3 prompted: Iktsuarpok (Inuit) - refers to the feeling of anticipation when you’re expecting someone that leads you to constantly check to see if they’re coming

“Where the hell is Copley?” Booker complains from where he’s sitting.

“He went to pick the girl up from the airport.” Andy says patiently. 

Joe tunes out their bickering and looks over at Nicky.

“Nervous?”

“To meet Copley’s replacement?”

“Mmm.”

“No. Not really. If Andy trusts her then I do, too.”

“You are too kind, Nicolò.”

Nicky laughs as he leans over to kiss Joe and Joe smiles into the kiss, wishing they had some alone time, but they don’t.

Copley is getting older, and he wants to be around to train his replacement. A CIA operative who speaks six languages, which isn’t impressive to  _ them _ . But it  _ is _ impressive nonetheless. 

Joe looks over to where Nile is leaning into Andy’s side, a development that took nearly ten years to come to fruition, something Andy wasn’t willing to begin until they figured out how she could become immortal again. It’s been thirty years since the lab, and fifteen since Booker’s been back with them. Now all they need is Copley and his new recruit. 

“His car is here.” Nile says from the tablet she’s watching.

“Finally.” Booker snarks as he sits back in his chair. 

“What’s her name again? Frankie?” Nile asks Andy and before Andy can answer another voice speaks up. 

“Francesca. But you can call me Frankie.” The woman, Frankie, shakes Andy’s hand and then Nile’s. 

Frankie turns to Booker who is staring at her with something akin to awe, as she chuckles and finally gets Booker to shake her hand. 

“You must be Joe and Nicky.” Frankie smiles as she turns to look back at Booker and winks at him, before turning to Joe and Nicky. Yeah, she’ll fit in just fine.

“It’s nice to meet you.” Frankie smiles as she shakes his hand. 

“You, too.” Joe returns and then frowns when Nicky doesn’t hold out his hand. Joe elbows him lightly from where he’s standing and it’s then that he notices how pale Nicky is.

“Nicolò?”

Nicky shakes his head a couple of times and looks at Frankie and then Joe before he turns and heads outside. Joe can barely hear the words ‘like seeing a ghost’ before Joe turns to Frankie to apologize.

“I’m sorry. He’s not normally like this.”

“It’s alright. I know it’s hard to trust new people.”

“No, you don’t understand. Nicky’s  _ never  _ like this.” Booker walks over and Joe nods his head, itching to get outside and follow Nicky, wherever he went.

“Go. We’ll catch her up to speed.” Copley says from where he’s standing in the corner of the room and Joe takes off outside. 

“Nicolò!” Joe shouts as he steps out into the grass. He finds Nicky sitting on a bench with his knee bouncing and his fists curled. 

“It isn’t like you to not even say hello.” Joe sits down next to Nicky and takes one of his hands in his own and squeezes it. 

“What’s wrong, amore mio?”

Nicky turns to Joe then and Joe notices the tears in his eyes. He immediately pulls Nicky to his chest as he wraps a hand around the back of his head as Nicky sags into his hold.

“She looks like my sister.” Nicky whispers and Joe freezes for a moment. It’s not that they never talk about their lives and the people in them, their families, before the Crusades, but it’s been years since either has brought it up. 

“Nicolò.” 

“I’m not. I’m not just saying that.” 

“I didn’t think you were.”

“She’s a spitting image of her, my Maria.”

Nicolò says her name so reverently it’s like he’s speaking directly to her. Joe knows Nicky’s sister's name, and his parents, just as he remembers his own, written throughout his journals and sketchbooks so he doesn’t forget. 

The only thing he doesn’t know is what they look like. It’s something Nicky’s never asked him to sketch, even though he’s offered. The faces of his own family are lost to him now, although they live in old yellowed journal pages somewhere in a safe house they own. 

But not Nicky’s.

“I should apologize to her.” 

“You can in a minute.” Joe rubs his hand through Nicky’s hair, soothing out the tension he can still feel.

“You think she’s Italian?” 

“You’re not thinking?”

“Not to get my hopes up. But it would make sense that my sister had kids, unless she fell ill.”

“Nine hundred years would be a lot of records to sort through.”

“I want to.” Nicky looks at him and through the tears Joe can see the determination. “Even if it’s not her. I want to know what happened.”

“Are you sure?”

“Sì.”

“Then we’ll look.”


End file.
